Prelude to Tomorrow
by a.pens.name
Summary: Chapter 4 Up! : Right after the cave in, Jack has time to think, too much time. Kate, aslo, has thoughts of her own to deal with as the recuer's time ticks slowly away along with hope of saving Jack. Please rr, thanks! : Finished
1. Chapter One: The Cave In

The first thing Jack noticed as his eyes blinked slowly open was that it was dark, really dark. He blinked again, confused. Hadn't there been light just a minute ago? Pausing, Jack tried to collect his thoughts, even though it felt like someone had just taken a blender to his brain.

Yes, yes, there _had_ been light. He could remember it, the nice, warm glow that floated through the opening in the cave as he tried to rearrange the luggage that the group of survivors he'd led up to the water had brought along with them. There was actually more than he'd thought there'd be at first, and it didn't help that cleaning was definitely not what he had been thinking about.

Then, then Charlie had come in, looking like crap.

'_What was with him lately, anyway?'_

Jack wondered why he just couldn't seem to calm down; it was like he had suddenly acquired a nervous twitch or something. But, anyway, he'd come in, yelling about something. What had he been yelling about? Jack squinted trying to remember and feeling cold, hard stone beneath his head... stone... rock... Rock God?

That was something he'd said, at least, something about being a Rock God and getting respect. And then... while Jack was trying to calm him down so he could actually _understand_ him, the ground that had been so solid while he was moving around bags, suddenly _shook_ and then...

Then there were crashes, lots of them. He could remember that vividly now, thanks to the pounding headache throbbing in his temples. Of course he'd done the first things he could think of doing, covering his head, dodging falling rocks, and jumping out of harms way.

But he'd done all that. Why wasn't it light? He should have landed outside, that's where he had meant to go. So where was he? Closing his eyes, not that it made much of a difference, he tried hard to remember what had happened during the rumbling, but most of it was a survival-mode blur, like a bunch of poorly developed pictures.

There was the ducking, the covering, and yes, yes he had jumped, but why had...and then it hit him.

He'd jumped the wrong way.

In all the confusion, he hadn't even looked to where he was jumping just before he'd taken off. Why had he been so foolish, so stupid, so... well, like himself?

Acting without thought; that's what everyone else always seemed to be convinced he did, no matter how much evidence he had otherwise. First burning the bodies, then moving the camp location, and he was sure there were other things his fellow survivors would remember if he ever bothered to ask. Shaking the thought from his mind, he settled back to the bleak, but all too true, likelihood that he was trapped in the cave in and was probably running out of oxygen at that very moment.

But Jack was not about to settle for that. No, he was not ready to die at the hands of his own stupidity, not yet. All he'd have to do is stand and look, there had to be another exit. A thin cave wall, a back hole, anything. Taking a deep breath, he slowly sat up and moved his feet closer to slide into a squatting position.

Or at least that's what he had every intention of doing, but he hadn't gotten farther than lifting his head a little off the ground when suddenly the rest of his body stopped obliging his orders.

'What the...?' Jack tried to move his right hand over, but found that it too seemed to be weighed down by something. Twitching his left hand carefully, he slowly moved it over to his leg and then up, feeling something hard, rough, and cold.

A rock.

Jack faltered. A rock? He was under a rock? Well... maybe...maybe he could move it. Move it and escape. Find a way out to freedom.

He pushed.

Once, twice... three, four, five times. It didn't even budge.

Damn.

Now there was no way he could save himself, unless...

What if he yelled? Someone could hear him and...

"_I'm a bloody **Rock God**!"_ Crashing, crumbling, and then darkness.

No, better not.

Jack took a deep breath. Now was _not_ the time to loose it. He needed all his senses keen and clear to find a way out of this.

How could he get out... He could still hear the rocks crashing down around him in his head. It made it harder to think; he wouldn't have been surprised if it'd bugged the whole camp, too.

_The Camp!_

Somebody, anybody, _had_ to have heard the crash.

"Please let them have heard it, please." Jack whispered to the silent cave.

But what if they didn't know he was in there? What if they just thought he'd gone down to the beach for more supplies or something? By the time they'd figured it out, he would suffocate, because really, who would think to look for him in the collapsed cave when he was likely miles away on the beach? Hurley had taken one of the last bags, a guitar or something, from Jack a good twenty minutes before the collapse happened, he guessed. Then he'd gone off to find Charlie, which seemed to be taking longer every day.

Wait, Charlie.

Charlie could tell them! He'd _been_ there and he had to know that Jack hadn't come out after him...

If _he'd_ even come out at all, that was.

Jack was not a religious man usually, but he found himself now praying to any saint and deity he could think of that Charlie had made it to safety, and not just so he could send rescue, either. He seemed like a nice guy, sure he had a few issues, but didn't everyone?

And Charlie had been angry at him because Jack had done something... said something maybe, that had really offended him. He hadn't ever given much thought to Charlie before that day, but when he did, he felt really... well, _sad _for him. Something was wrong with that guy, something Jack thought he should talk to him about. But of course he hadn't acted on it before things had gone out of hand. He'd been too busy thinking about himself and his issues rather than trying to help Charlie when, as was pretty obvious now, Charlie needed the help far more than himself.

His father had been right, Jack couldn't help most people. Hell, he couldn't even help himself.

Why had he been so stupid? It was his own damn fault he was going to run out of air and die in that dark, cold tomb and he seriously doubted whether that many people would actually care. Maybe Hurley, maybe even Claire, she seemed to care about everyone, but that would be about it.

It was silent again in the cave for Jack as he stopped thinking just for a moment. Then something dawned on him.

Jack had to laugh out loud at the irony of his situation. He'd spent his whole life shuffling in his father's footsteps, and now he'd even managed to model his death; far from home, alone, and friendless. The thought didn't amuse him at all, but laughing was a hell of a lot better than screaming, which was what he felt like doing.

He'd hit rock bottom, literally, and not only was it dark, it was like a hope sponge, sucking it all away from him as he stared at what he assumed somewhere above was the rock ceiling.

As he thought about it, though, he realized the thought of dying didn't bother him nearly as much as what he was leaving behind. So many people who could one day need him, even if he _was_ a failure at helping them, not to mention everything that Jack had meant to do, meant to tell people, one person in particular.

Not that he even knew if she'd care, but he wished she'd known anyway.

Yes, he'd felt something for Kate lately, although he couldn't quite trace back to where it had started. Nevertheless, there was so much he'd wanted to tell her in particular.

First, he didn't hate her. He wasn't mad at her, he wasn't sure if he could ever be mad at her. Kate never seemed to do anything worth getting angry over, to him at least. It was, he assumed, a positive sign, not that it really mattered now.

Jack also wanted her to know that it was okay with him if she stayed on the beach, if it was what she really wanted. He'd been so, unsurprisingly, stubborn and selfish by continually prodding her to come when he knew that she was already having trouble making up her mind, mostly, he assumed, because of his unintentional manipulating.

And last, well, last was something Jack would've rather carried to the grave than risk telling her, which seemed to be a growing option for him.

With his last thoughts on her, he closed his eyes, taking slow breaths and savoring the last of the air.


	2. Chapter Two: Running

A/n: Thank you to ya'll who reviewed my first chapter. :) I feel so love-ed. Anyway, here's some more Lost-y goodness, from Kate's POV for a bit.

Fear does funny things to a person. Like, for instance, Kate never thought her sense of direction quite compared to that of a normal person's. She wouldn't aimlessly wander down the wrong streets for hours while looking for a grocer, but she would occasionally find herself turning halfway down the street before she realized her mistake.

This time, though, it was different; completely different.

She'd only been to the cave camp once, and even then she was pretty sure that, if left to her own devices, it would take her hours to find her way back to the beach. Now... now her subconscious seemed to call up some hidden map as her feet flew over the dirt and leaves, her mind focused on only one thing.

_Please don't be dead... let them find him, let him be okay, please let him be okay_.

Why didn't Sawyer tell her sooner? Of course he hadn't come up to help them, he'd come up to tell her, she knew it now. Why hadn't he?

_'If only he'd lived long enough..._' Sawyer had said. He was lucky her feet had kicked in before her fists, otherwise he'd have had it coming to him...

Or had _she_? She _had_ gone out of her way to insult him for probably the umpteenth time when he got there. In fact, Kate knew she hadn't even bothered an attempt at making peace with him. Maybe he'd just been so ticked... Was it her fault? What if Jack _died_ because she hadn't found out sooner?

_Don't let him die because of me, let him hold on. If he dies because of me... oh god, no please..._

Why was she so worried? Someone was helping him. Someone else had heard the cave in, they'd run to help. The rational part of her brain was screaming just to be heard over her pounding step and heart.

_There's nothing you can do about it that someone else isn't doing. It's not your fault if anything happens. Slow down, slow down._

Unfortunately, the rational screaming was quickly drowned out by something else, emotions. One of the only things Kate had always thought she'd had control over in her life was now ruling her.

Not that she really knew what her feelings were for Jack. Things had been... confusing lately. With the move and the time they'd spent together before hand and all of her pre-crash thoughts muddling around in her head, not to mention survival, she hadn't had nearly enough time to sort everything out. What she did know though, was that Jack did _not_ deserve to die. From all she knew about him- which she grudgingly admitted to herself was very little- she had found very few faults in him, far less than she could count in herself, anyways.

And there was always that nagging feeling, one that she found herself forced to ignore increasingly more often when she was around him. But she didn't want to think about that and had done a damn good job of it before then.

Voices. Kate could hear voices growing nearby just yards ahead of her.

"Move that one...No, no, not _that_ one, the one next to it. Slower... slower... SLOWER, dammit!"

She practically threw herself over the last root into the clearing, just barley stopping before she barreled into a group of people standing outside the cave.

_Rescuers, thank god. Maybe they've already got him...?_

"Where's Jack?" She demanded, breathing slowly and trying not to look like she'd just run a good two or three miles in twenty minutes.

Her question was answered with silence. Silence was _never_ good. Following it was '_the_' glance from Hurly to Michael to Boone. She _knew_ that glance. Using 'the' glance and silence together was almost as good as nailing the coffin shut.

"Where is _he_?" Kate demanded harder. _He's dead, he has to be. Why aren't they saying anything? Tell me he's not dead, dammit, just tell me!_ She wanted to scream, wanted to hit something if someone didn't tell her.

Hurley looked at the ground away from Kate's eyes as he gestured behind his back, "He's in there. We sent Charlie in after him, but the tunnel we made... it... it collapsed."

Kate paused. He wasn't dead yet, so why was everyone just sitting around? He could be _suffocating_ in there and no one was even moving the boulders anymore. It was like they'd just... given up.

That infuriated her. She refused to be content to work at a snail's pace, not until Jack came out of there alive or they had to... well, she didn't want to think about that anymore, not with him so close.

"Then why isn't anyone _doing anything_?" Kate asked quietly, trying to force her emotions back into control as she stepped around Michael and began to move rocks hurriedly, determined to re-clean out that whole damn path even if she had to do it completely by herself.

"Here, let me take that." Boone grasped the rock she was holding and passed it behind him to, much to her surprise, the newly re-formed line of survivors.

She was moving as quickly as she could with the rocks, all of which weighed a great deal more than she thought they would. But it didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that with each rock she was closer and closer to opening that hole and hearing Jack's voice, alive and well again.

"Come on, Jack, hold on." She whispered to the cave when she bent down to grab another rock.

Boone took the rock, passing a thoughtful glance to Kate as he did so. She suddenly realized that she really hadn't talked to him much before, except when they'd gotten instructions that morning about the rockets...

Oh crap. That _stupid_ rocket! _Come on Sawyer, you owe me._ If he didn't do it, oh was he in for a beating.

Boone turned, getting her attention, he held his hands out for another rock.

"Kate, right?" He asked.

She nodded, her mind not quite clear enough for a verbal response.

"Ah." Boone paused hesitantly and for just a second Kate looked up into his face. She didn't like what she saw there... fear, worry, and, worst of all, hopelessness.

"You know... You know what the chances of him being..." He stopped again, picking up and passing another rock, "That was the second cave in, Kate, and all I'm trying to say... I just noticed that you and Jack, well... spent a lot of time together." He took a deep breath.

"I just don't want you to get your hopes up, Kate." His voice sent shudders up her spine, it sounded so final, so definite, but she was not going to let _him_ see that. Someone in that whole stupid camp had to have faith or Jack _would_ die in there.

"That may be what you believe," She said simply, keeping her voice as steady as she could. _Someone_ needed to be strong and resilient and, well, since Jack wasn't around to do that right now, it was her job, "but Jack's a trooper. I think he's survived a lot more than this before. He'll come out alright."

It was such a bad lie she just assumed he wouldn't believe it for a second, but when Kate turned around, hauling a couple smaller stones, Boone almost seemed convinced. Then he just shrugged.

"Maybe you're right, Kate."

_I hope I am._


	3. Chapter Three: Charlie

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, I appreciate them much. Anywho, the convo Jack has with Charlie in the cave here won't be as exact as I originally intended because _someon_e glares taped over the episode. So I ask you to forgive me in advance for that.. -

A/N/N: Sorry for the loooonnnnggg delay. I have had zero time at home lately. -.- Hopefully, though, I'll get the next chapter done during the end of this week cause I have time, whoot.

For a second he could've sworn he could almost feel his sheets, the soft grey-blue, t-shirt ones he'd had for… well, he couldn't remember how long now. The sunlight was hitting his face from the window by his bed and he could hear the almost silent swishing of a cat tail followed by a low, tractor-like rumble. The light was getting brighter and brighter. It was really starting to bug him. No problem, though, he could just reach over and grab the blind string and pull them shut and be back in the blissful darkness again.

All he had to do was move his hand…but it wouldn't move.

_Funny_, he thought. Maybe that stupid cat was sleeping on his arm again. Why his mom had insisted on giving it to him years ago he would never know, maybe she thought he was lonely or something. But back to his hand… it still wasn't moving and for a second he was really worried. Opening his eyes, he tried to look for the problem…

And suddenly he was back to the cave. No sheets, no blinds, no cat. At least now he remembered why his hand wasn't moving

With that, though, came back the reminder that he was doomed. Death was creeping ever closer to him, but it wasn't really bothering him anymore. Now he was just kind of wishing he could have his sheets back and thinking how pathetic it was that he'd never gotten around to naming that cat after having him a whole three years.

It was really distracting trying to think, though, with all the chatter that had suddenly started in the background…

Chatter?

It couldn't be, there was no way…

"Jack? Jack, you there man? Talk to us!"

Yes, **yes, YES!** He wanted to yell, scream. Screw the stupid cave, someone had _found_ him. He wasn't going to die, not today. It was amazing, super…

"Ye…yeah." He sort of choked out, his throat dry and surprised at it's sudden need to be used again, "I'm… I think I'm pinned beneath a rock…" There was something else, what was it, what was it? Oh, of course, "Is Charlie okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. We're gonna send someone in for you, just hold on."

_Sure, like I really have another option. _

He was too happy to care though, even though he was pretty sure he'd be in for a world of pain when he finally got himself out from underneath that rock.

Suddenly, a small storm of rocks slid down the side of the cave wall and he heard a vaguely familiar rumbling. More dust and stones danced off of the walls and ceiling and Jack flung up his one free arm to guard his face and clamped his eyes closed.

Choking on the dust, the hope he'd had just a second before suffocated and dissolved. He didn't need to be able to see to know that the cave had fallen in again…

Jack focused so much on that one thought he didn't hear the coughing at first.

Light flashed in his face, a blinding brightness filled his line of vision. What was going on? He was dead, that had to be it. People were always going on about 'walking into the light' and there it was. Jack wondered curiously what had finally killed him and was about to try to stand up again when a voice stopped him.

"I'm… err, here to rescue you." The light was lowered and there was a face peering at him from over the rock, Charlie's face. It was so completely absurd, and yet, oddly enough, it made Jack feel better in a way. At least, better enough that he couldn't help but laugh a little.

--------

Jack sucked in a deep, long breath of air as he felt the rock slip off his lungs. Closing his eyes, he paused for a minute as Charlie hung nervously nearby, one hand still on the rock he'd moved.

_Nothing crushed, good._ Jack contemplated, trying to asses the damage done. _No ribs are broken, no puncturing…_ He tried to shift his right arm.

Agony like millions of fiery pokers shot up his arm, burning straight down into the very core of his body. Grinding his teeth, he stopped mid-shift and blinked his eyes open, glancing over at Charlie.

"My shoulder's dislocated," He gritted out, trying to ignore the sporadic stabs of pain near his shoulder, "Hold my hand and, when I tell you to, pull as hard as you can. Alright?" Jack held out his hand and, for a moment, Charlie just stared at it.

_Come on, Charlie._ Jack thought anxiously. He knew it would hurt like hell to re-locate it, but it wasn't going to get any better by waiting.

"I… I can't…" Charlie spluttered, uneasily, his hands fidgeting in his lap.

"Yes, yes you can, Charlie." Jack kept his voice calm as he tried to reassure him. Charlie seemed panicked enough without Jack's help.

A long pause of silence passed.

Charlie gripped Jack's hand firmly, "Ready."

Jack took a deep breath and prepared himself. In High School, he'd dislocated his fair share of fingers in various sports, and the pain couldn't be much worse than that, could it?

"Pull."

As a doctor, he should've known better.

Sparks and bolts of light exploded in his head as the prods were replaced by whips and knives as his arm squeezed the joint back open enough to barely slide in. Even with his eyes closed they began to water, but he refused to scream. The air he was breathing came in ragged gasps for a moment as he tried to calm himself, his good hand clenched into a tight ball and his fingernails digging into his skin.

There was silence again, save for Jack's breathing, which was normalizing slowly. His arm was still aching, but he knew the worst of the pain had passed.

Raising his head, he looked over at Charlie. He couldn't help but laugh then, Charlie looked like one of the prairie dogs he'd seen on a business trip to Montana once, as if even a twig snapping would send him zipping down into the depths of his burrow.

"See, that wasn't so bad." Jack said, shrugging with his one shoulder and a crooked smile to match.

Charlie relaxed and chuckled uneasily.

-----------

"Hey Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Name the one food you miss most right now."

Jack changed his expression to mock one of deep thought. Charlie seemed much more at ease now, still a little twitchy, but improving for the best. And now, at least, he had someone in the cave with him to distract him from his… their current predicament.

"I don't know." Even at home, Jack had never been much of a cook, it ran in the family. There was one thing, though, that even _he_ could cook well… "Grilled cheese and tomato soup. I'd bet there's nothing better for lunch on a cold day anywhere. What about you?"

Charlie scratched his chin, "Hampshire drops. Not too sweet, but not too bland with just a drop of jam on top. If we ever get off this bloody island, you'll have to drop me a line sometime and I'll send you some. Got to culture the yank." He grinned, "Tomato soup, huh? Didn't your mum ever cook you up something fancy for Christmas dinner? Turkey and all the rest of the like you have over there?"

Jack laughed at even the _concept_ of his mom cooking, "No, my mom wasn't the cooking type. We usually spent family holidays over at my Grandparents." He shuddered while briefly remembering those 'holidays'.

"Well, was she a good cook?"

"Yeah, I guess, but trust me, I'd have rather just skipped over the whole thing altogether." Jack shook his head, but Charlie appeared to be listening intently now.

"Why?" He asked curiously, nothing moving for once, eyes fixed on him.

"I have a… varied family. All the relatives would go up to one secluded lodge in the middle of a forest for Christmas for a whole week where there was absolutely nothing to do besides eat, sleep and talk."

"Sounds nice enough." Charlie said with a shrug, "I've seen worse family gatherings."

"Yeah, you'd think so, and it probably would have been fine for any normal family, but the only talking my family ever does is arguing. It's like five seconds can't pass before one of them finds some reason to yell at whoever they're talking with when they all get together. It just makes you want to go insane. I was thrilled when I couldn't make it out there because I was buried in _collage assignments_. I spent most of that break _studying_ and it was still the best holiday I think I've ever had." Jack paused. He felt bad for ranting at Charlie like that, but in a way it felt good to get it off his chest. He'd never seen a shrink and most of Jack's 'friends' weren't really the type of people he'd ever felt like unloading too, and yet here he was spilling his guts out to someone he'd only know for a week or two.

"So why were you in Australia?" Charlie asked quietly.

Jack paused and looked down at his hands as though he was carefully examining them, "Family matters." He answered vaguely. There was only two other people on the island who even remotely know what he'd been doing on that plane and he wasn't about to go telling anyone else. The fewer people that knew how screwed up his family was… _he_ was, the better. It was one thing complaining to Charlie about Holidays, but it was completely different dragging him into _that_ mess.

"Oh." Charlie said in a tone Jack appreciatively understood as closing the subject.

Nevertheless, now Jack was thinking about his dad again. How he barely knew anything about him, how he'd hardly ever talked to either of his parents since he'd moved out to college, how, when he was young, he'd always wondered why his dad had lectured him constantly when he _thought_ he was doing the right thing, but mostly he was wondering if he'd be exactly the same way if he ever had a family. There was one thing Jack knew for sure though; he would never want to put another kid through what he'd had to grow up with, even with the good times that came few and far between.

Charlie had started to fidget lightly again, tapping his fingers on a rock and staring at the floor. Jack watched him for a moment, thoughtfully.

"Charlie?" Jack said, almost inaudibly, wondering if he heard him and half hoping he didn't, "Can I ask you a stupid question?"

"Yeah, mate, what else've we got to do?"

Jack hesitated for a minute, wondering how dumb he was going to feel after he asked and Charlie started cracking up, because really, it even sounded like a stupid question to him, and as a doctor he'd heard _plenty_ of them.

_What the hell, we probably won't make it out of this cave anyway, with the luck I've had so far today._

"Do you think I'd make a good dad?" He asked quickly, and then tacked on with a flicker of a lighthearted smile, "You know, hypothetically, from the whole two weeks we've known each other."

To his utter amazement, Charlie didn't laugh once; he wasn't even smiling. His head tilted slightly to one side and looked him over in much the same way Jack remembered the cat doing when it watched him.

"Yeah," Charlie nodded, "I think you would."

"Ah." Jack muttered, still a little too surprised to say anything else.

_Way to go, Jack. 'Ah'. Not 'thank you' or 'wow, you think so''. You make him listen to your irrational worries and all you say is 'Ah'. He probably thinks…_

Jack looked up. He really had no idea what Charlie was thinking, he was so jittery now he wasn't even looking Jack in the eye anymore. There was something oddly familiar about his eyes… like he'd seen them before, or something in them, he didn't know which.

Then something clicked in his mind.

_He'd seen them at the hospital once, only they hadn't been Charlie's, they'd been a girl's. She couldn't have been more than seventeen, Jack thought, but you wouldn't have known that from only looking at her eyes. There were years upon years in them, more than she'd been alive for. Just before she went under for immediate surgery in the ER, he saw her watching him and Jack could still remember the pang of anger he'd felt just then at that complete waste of life. _

_Someone could have helped her, someone could have prevented _this.

Well, it wasn't going to happen again if Jack could help it.

"How long's it been?" He asked, in almost an offhand tone, staring straight at Charlie and waiting for a reaction.

"Wh…what?" Charlie spluttered, quizzically.

"Since your last high." He elaborated cautiously.

Charlie opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and opened it again, speaking slowly and staring at the ground, "Almost twenty-six hours."

"Look, Charlie, I know the next couple of days will be hell for you, but…well, I'm here if you need my help, alright?" Jack said, trying to throw out a lifeline for Charlie and hoping he wasn't already too far out to catch it.

"Locke's already helped." Charlie began.

_Good._ Jack thought. Locke seemed decent enough.

"But I'm really not worth it." Charlie half smiled and tried to shrug casually, still looking at the floor of the cave.

Jack raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Here was someone who had worked away without complaining to help Jack for the past two weeks and had just crawled through a tiny tunnel bent on saving him even with the risk to his own life and he thought _he_ was worthless? Charlie had just managed, in the course of an hour, to prove his worth far more than Jack had lately, and yet he was dragging himself back down to what Jack guessed was probably, as depressing as it was, a comfort zone to him. So he responded as truthfully as Charlie had to his question earlier.

"No…no, you're _not_ worthless, Charlie. What makes you think that?"

Charlie shrugged the question off, "Just… different things... How long've we got, do you think?"

Raising an eyebrow, Jack showed Charlie the same courtesy he'd been shown earlier by dropping it and then surveyed the space in the cave for the first time. It was a lot larger than he would've guessed, about the size of an elevator compartment actually, but at the rate two human beings used air...

"Not much longer, I guess, until we start to run out of air." He said, trying to add a hopeful optimism to his voice that really just ended up coming across flat.

"Oh." Charlie mumbled, "A little more… than a… hour… then…?" His voice trailed off as his eyes darted across the ceiling and widened.

Jack looked from him to the cave roof in confusion. "Hey, Charlie, what's…" But Charlie was already up and moving away fast, headed towards the back of the cave. Jack could see his hands beginning to dig furiously at what looked to him like just another bunch of rocks. Getting to his feet, he edged around behind Charlie. Maybe if he got there in time, he could hold him back, talk some sense into him and stop him before he made the whole cave fall in on top of them.

Slowly, Jack moved out his arm towards Charlie's shoulder. He was inches away from getting a grip when suddenly a bright light blurred his vision. Blinking, he pulled back and moved his hand over his eyes as Charlie's own hand came out of the wall and more unfiltered light flooded in. He could feel it warming his face and hand as he slowly lowered it and took a deep, hesitant breath. Clean, fresh, tropical air sent a tingle up his spine and he cautiously opened his eyes. The light was coming from the hole Charlie had opened.

He clapped him on the shoulder and did something he couldn't remember doing much for a long time… laughing. He was laughing so hard even, it was starting to hurt his shoulder, but he ignored it. They were saved and Jack could even see a sliver of bright blue sky from the small hole that Charlie had begun to widen as he also started grinning and chuckling, dirt showering down to the rocks he stood on.

"See, Jack, I told you I'd rescue you."


	4. Chapter Four: Prelude to Tomorrow

A/N: Wow, and I thought that _last_ delay was long. Phew, sorry about that, but after I taped the episode a _second_ time, it was again taped over in under a week. -.- But now I've found the episode written out so all is good! Enjoy the finale of the fic.

"Hey, Kate."

Kate ignored the voice and went on. It's not like she didn't know what he was going to say. _Stop working, you need a break, we can handle it._ Yeah, like they'd been "handling" it before she showed up? No, thanks anyway, she had energy to burn. Or at least she could keep telling herself that a little longer…

"Hey, Kate, you need to take a break." Michael placed his hand on her shoulder as she swung around and dropped another rock and held her there, obviously sick of trying to get her attention.

"No, I'm fine." Kate replied coolly, shrugging her shoulder free and turning back to the tunnel that was slowly growing longer. _Maybe just a few more rocks, just a couple of rocks between you and their freedom._

"Come on, we've got enough people to dig. You keep going like this and you're going to kill yourself." Michael said with obvious frustration at Kate's stubbornness. She couldn't blame him, he was just trying to keep her from passing out, after all, but at the same time she resented him for trying to stop her, taking away precious seconds of air from the cave.

_Just a little more, just keep going_…

Boone prodded her shoulder form behind her and stopped grabbing rocks.

"What?" Kate snapped, setting the on she was holding down next to her and turning to look at him.

But it wasn't Boone she saw when she turned around. Coming out from the trees and shrubs over his shoulder were two lone figures, laughing and grinning as if they hadn't just been inches away from death for the past hour.

Almost leaping over Boone in her hurry to get past him, she ran past the rescue group and threw her arms around an unsuspecting Jack and threw him off his balance. So what if she looked like a loser and her head was spinning from even the short run, it didn't matter anymore. It was almost pathetic how deliriously happy she was that they hadn't died, even if she hadn't actually been helping them get out.

Jack's hand moved to her shoulder and pushed lightly a little, "Ow, easy, my shoulder. Careful…" Kate noticed that he didn't moved to push her away again, though, which was kind of funny. She also noticed that every survivor present was watching her so she let go and scooted back, patting Charlie on the shoulder.

"How'd you get out?" Hurley called from behind Kate as he came up to greet the two.

"It was Charlie," Jack started, still grinning and nodding in the direction of Charlie who had quietly stepped back out of the welcoming group, "Charlie found a way out."

Hurley squeezed Charlie with one arm as Charlie smiled at the group, practically beaming with pride. Watching him, Jack took a step out of the group and let Charlie have his chance at the limelight. Escaping with just a few handshakes and a pat on the back or two, he broke away from the others and walked away quietly. Besides, there were others things he had to get ready for and think about…

-

Kate laughed as she congratulated Charlie and then looked over for Jack again, but he wasn't standing in the group anymore. Trying to nonchalantly look over the crowd's shoulders as people began to slowly disperse, she finally found the back of his head moving towards the forest and disappearing.

Frowning, she politely excused herself and slipped through the crowd to the edge of the camp, but he was gone.

Shaking her head, she turned back towards the path to the beach.

_I guess it's time to go back,_ Kate thought with remorse that surprised her. _I mean, of course I have to go back. I can't just stay up here forever! What if a plane or a ship comes or something, what if I miss getting rescued? I'd never get to go back to…_ She paused.

What _would_ she go back to if they were rescued?

_Well, maybe a little bit longer wouldn't hurt, _She decided firmly and turned around. Jack could use a sling, probably, and even she knew how to make one of those. Heading back to the caves, she left her thoughts behind her.

-

The sun had just set and the sky around the campfire was darkening as Jack and Charlie sat next to each other by its glow. Charlie was drinking tea from a cup he held shaking in his hands while Jack sat watching the flames lick the brown branches that had just been thrown in. It was the calm before the storm and after that night Jack knew all hell would break loose for the next week. To be as much help as he could be, Jack knew he needed to push all other thoughts from his mind, a skill he had been mastering his whole life. Emotions were not something shown in his house, they were just an inconvenience that rarely bothered his parents and were expected to be vacant in any male of the Shepherd family lineage. After years of practice it only took a few minutes to distract himself from the thoughts he'd been having earlier in the cave.

Lifting his head slightly, he watched as Hurley walked past them to the spring with two empty water bottles, filled them, and then stopped in front of them as he passed Jack and Charlie each one of the bottles.

Hurley looked at Charlie with concern, "Dude, you feeling okay? You look a little…"

"Flu. He's got the flu." Jack interrupted quickly.

"Oh, man, that's rough, after all you went through today. Take it easy…" Hurley waved and walked off back to the caves and Jack nodded a goodbye and then glanced over to Charlie. He looked gratefully back at Jack and went back to drinking his tea.

Jack shrugged, Charlie had saved his life and, hopefully, he'd be able to return to favor through the next week.

It was quiet for another couple of seconds and then Charlie set down his tea and stood up, "I think I'm going to stretch my legs."

Jack glanced up from the fire and followed Charlie's gaze over to Locke, "Alright, I'll be here." Nodding, Charlie made his way over to the roasting pit as Jack watched for a moment and then turned his attention back to the fire.

Suddenly, there was a piece of rag-like cloth dropped over his head and a voice behind him, "Made you something."

Blinking in surprise, Jack grinned as he slid the rag into place and Kate made a few little adjustments until it fit as a makeshift sling, "Aww, my first sling."

Kate rolled her eyes with a smile and moved it a little more, "There, how's that?"

"Good, thank you." Jack said appreciatively and was a little disappointed as Kate moved away, assuming she'd stopped by just for that.

Kate stepped over one of the bags and sat next to him, crossing her legs. She had waited most of that afternoon for him to come back; she had no intention of leaving quite yet, to Jack's disbelief.

"So," He eyes wandered over the caves around the fire, "These are the safe caves you've been going on about?"

Jack glanced over at her as a coy smile crossed her face and he shook his head, "That was a fluke. Michael checked out the integrity of the rest of the caves and gave them the okay." He stopped and hesitated, then looked at the fire, "So you're going back to the beach, huh?"

"Sayid should be back there by now and if his plan worked…" Her eyes wandered to the sand as she shrugged lightly.

Jack finished, "We're one step closer to getting off this island. Right." He was amazed how much bitterness he had to keep down from escaping in those words. Of course it was reasonable for her to want to get off, it was reasonable for _any_ of them to want to get off. What was keeping him from understanding that?

Kate was wondering the same thing as she watched him for the brief second she raised her gaze from the sand. Had she known talking to him was going to go _this well_, she would have just left the sling to Hurley to give to him. But there had been something else she'd wanted to say, something that she'd been thinking about that whole day, but now couldn't put into words.

"Thanks for the sling, Kate." Jack said, forcing the smile back on his face as he patted it gently, "It's great."

"You're welcome." She smiled back as she stood up, "I should probably get ready to go back to the beach…"

"In the dark?" Jack asked, his forehead crinkling in what Kate liked to imagine was concern for her.

"I have a flashlight and some of the others are going to go back, I'll just stay with them."

"Oh, okay." Jack said, although his forehead was still crinkled and he didn't look any more convinced.

Standing for a few more seconds in silence, Kate smiled, "Well, bye then."

"Bye." Jack said and Kate turned to go with some disappointment, "Wait…"

Looking back calmly, Kate tried to keep her tone even as she spoke, "Yes?"

"Er…" Jack scratched his head with his good hand and looked up at her. All his thoughts had come cramming and pushing back into his brain the second he'd seen her, but they mixed and turned more furiously than before. It was like everything he'd ever learned about himself up to that point was obsolete around her as he lost all control of his mind. It was scary, in a way, but… there was something amazing about it at the same time.

"Yes?" Kate repeated, leaning in closer. It was stupid how much she was waiting for him to say something, anything really.

"Well, there's some… medical supplies down at the beach I need to go get tomorrow and with my arm and everything it'll take a couple trips back and forth to get what I need by myself. So, maybe if you weren't doing anything-"

"Sure, no problem." Kate said with a small smile and glanced over at the group gathering to go back to the beach, "Oh, well, I guess I'll see you then. Bye…"

Jack nodded as Kate turned and joined the others and they started off into the jungle. Sitting there for a moment, he just looked off into the trees, not really thinking about anything and feeling, considering his circumstances, content for one of the first times in awhile he could remember, before or after the crash.

It was then he remembered Charlie and his eyes searched the people sleeping and sitting around the caves until he found him talking to Locke. In his hand was a bag, and Jack would have bet money he knew what was inside.

Getting to his feet, Jack kept his eyes on the bag. _What the hell was Locke doing? He was supposed to be _helping, _not giving him back his damn drugs!_

But suddenly the bag was in the flames, smoldering and burning under the golden flames of the fire pit. Jack stood in a mixture or shock and relief and then slowly sank to the ground. If Charlie could start something like that, Jack should have at least been able to handle his own feelings.

That was the turning point for Charlie, almost like his first step to what would happen over the next week, a step that would change his life forever.

Jack could change too, maybe conquer a few of his own inner demons. That day would be his turning point for him as well, whether he knew it or not, a prelude to tomorrow for both of them, and tomorrow was looking up.

_End_


End file.
